by Hugh Zeitlin     
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

10 minutes prior to the 5pm bell-time, Coach came out to the ring, announced that he and Eric Bischoff decided that he would preside over the action tonight...meaning Coach would be our ring announcer for the evening.  Following a greeting from two local radio personalities, it was time to get the 2 hours of action started...it was a straight 2 hours, no intermission...

1)  Randy Orton vs. RVD, for the IC Title.  This was obviously just some practice for the duo as they prepare for tonight's Armageddon PPV.  It was a solid 10 minute affair...Orton drew some excellent heat, while Van Dam was way-over with the crowd.  Orton never got too much offense in on this one, finish came when RVD hit a rolling thunder, followed it up with a 5-star frogsplash, and got the pinfall to retain the title.  Great opener...

2)  Maven vs. Matt Hardy.  No "reason" for this match...just a chance for both guys to work.  Maven started out on offense, getting all of his "Tough Enough" arsenal in...at this rate (adding in a new move per year), we're figuring he'll be a stand-out wrestler in another decade or so...lol.  Not a boring match by any means, but after the top-notch opener, this was down a step or two.  Finish saw Maven block the 1st twist-of-fate attempt, but he couldn't stop the 2nd one...Matt Hardy wins via pinfall.

3)  Rosey (The S.H.I.T.) vs. Tommy Dreamer.  Before Rosey could make it in for his entrance, Tommy came up from behind with the Singapore Cane, and started whacking Rosey all over the arena.  They finally made it into the ring for about 4-5 minutes at the most, when Rosey hit his tilt-a-whirl slam on Dreamer and picked up the pinfall.  As soon as he got the pin, out came Test, to beat up on the tired superhero in training...leading to the entrance of the Hurricane...giving us our next match...

4)  Test vs. The Hurricane.  To our disappointment, Stacy Keibler did not come down to ringside at the start of the match.  The offense went back and forth, but when it appeared Test was going to take the easy win, our spirits were lifted as Stacy ran out from the back, jumped up on the apron, and proceeded to turn around and pull up here skirt, showing off her butt for all of us to see.  :)  This distracted Test almost to the point of losing the match, but Hurricane couldn't finish him off.  Eventually a failed Shining Wizard from the Hurricane, led to a big boot from Test, and he got the victory.  He proceeded to chase Stacy into the back immediately following the match, which allowed the Hurricane to get a nice ovation from the crowd, as he slowly made his way to the back.

5)  Lita vs. Jazz vs. Trish vs. Molly, for the Women's Title...with special ref, Victoria.  If they ever did this "Fatal 4-way" on RAW, I think Lawler would have a heart attack.  While Trish is still my favorite, I have to say Lita is even more attractive in person than she appears on tv...we were impressed.  This match was good...as most of the women's matches have been on RAW lately.  Lita seemed to suffer a minor arm injury at one point, when Jazz fell awkwardly on her...she was shaking the arm through out the rest of the match, as if trying to get feeling back in it.  Finish saw Trish hit the "Stratusfaction" on Molly, but then Victoria showed her "true colors", as she leg-dropped Trish, and pulled Molly on top of her to retain the Women's title.

6)  Batista vs. Kane.  This was billed as our Main Event in all of the press releases, but it made sense not to have it on last...as neither guy is supposed to be a fan-favorite.  However, Kane received plenty of cheers in this one, and basically played the good-guy throughout.  BTW, Batista is HUGE!  I saw him live up in Macon last year, but wasn't sitting as close....the guy is a fricking brick wall!  As for the match, it was a bit slower-paced, since both are "big men".  Nothing to complain about in this one, but nothing that really stood out either.  It ended when Kane hit the chokeslam, and got the pinfall.

7)  Mark Jindrak and Garrison Cade vs. Lance Storm and Val Venis.  Both of these teams are in the "Tag Team Turmoil" match tonight at Aramgeddon.  Solid bout, and I would say the MVP of the match was probably Lance Storm...he was given a chance to shine and did so with some excellent top rope slingshot type maneuvers.  Cade and Jindrak have both improved since we last saw them live, at the RAW taping in Miami over the summer.  To our delight, Venis and Storm would earn the victory, hitting the Hart Foundation's running clothesline finisher (Val played the role of the Anvil, while Lance played Bret), with Lance picking up the pinfall.

8)  Mark Henry (w/ Teddy Long) vs. Booker T.  This was another tune-up match for tonight's PPV.  After Booker refused Long's pleas to join forces with him, the match began and was kept relatively short.  Nothing much to write about...typical stuff that ended in normal manner...Booker with the bicycle kick, spinaroonie, and another high leg kick...he almost got the pinfall there...but moments later, he would roll up Henry (possibly using the tights) for the pin.  Booker left shortly thereafter, while Long and Henry complained about Booker's cheating...once Earl Hebner announced that his decision was final, Long and Henry both chased him to the back...funny stuff.

9)  Christian and Chris Jericho vs. The Dudley Boyz, for the Tag Team titles.  This was our main event.  Before the match started, Bubba told us that while the match isn't a table match, before the night was over, someone would be going through a table.  We then got a 5 minute comedy routine, with Christian and Jericho playing the fools...it was hilarious stuff, which ended with Bubba mooning the two of them, and giving us an eyeful of his ass in the process (we could've done without that part...lol).  When Jericho and Christian finally stopped laughing from the mooning, we got the match underway.  Solid stuff as one would expect from all involved.  Finish came when we got a ref bump.  This allowed Trish and Lita to make an appearance, distracting Christian and Jericho long enough to give the Dudleys the upper-hand.  They put the two guys in the "Whaaatts upppp" position, and the two ladies gave out the diving head-butts on their "ex's".  The ref regains consciousness, the Dudleys hit the 3-D on Christian, and pick up the victory.

Following the match, after Jericho and Christian leave, the two ladies convince Coach to get back in the ring and wish the Dudleys good luck in their title defense at the PPV.  Once he's cornered, D-Von proceeds to be the crap out of him...and it's time to get the table.  Moments later, we get an almost-botched 2nd rope power bomb, which puts Coach through the table.  D-Von then picks out a little kid from ringside, has him get in the ring with everyone, gives him a piece of the table, and he gets to take a picture, getting a kiss on each cheek from Lita and Trish, while the Dudleys are on either side of them...talk about a lucky kid!  Following that, the ladies and the Dudleys walked around the ringside area for a few minutes shaking hands, and that put an end to a solid house show.

Like clockwork, the show was over and done in exactly 2 hours.  It would've been nice to get a surprise appearance from one of the big 3 (HBK, HHH, or Goldberg), but obviously we weren't expecting it.  The only minor disappointment was a Ric Flair no-show, as he was advertised as being in the corner of Batista and Orton.  Overall, a very entertaining evening...that'll do it for now...

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